I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul;
And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one’s self is,
And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy, walks to his own funeral, drest in his shroud,
And I or you, pocketless of a dime, may purchase the pick of the earth, 1270
And to glance with an eye, or show a bean in its pod, confounds the learning of all times,
And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero,
And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheel’d universe,
And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.
[48.1]
And I say to mankind, Be not curious about God, 1275
For I, who am curious about each, am not curious about God;
(No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God, and about death.)
[48.2]
I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least,
Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.
[48.3]
Why should I wish to see God better than this day? 1280
I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then;
In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass;
I find letters from God dropt in the street—and every one is sign’d by God’s name,
And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe’er I go,
Others will punctually come forever and ever. 1285
[48.4]
48.
I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul;
And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one’s self is,
And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy, walks to his own funeral, drest in his shroud,
And I or you, pocketless of a dime, may purchase the pick of the earth, 1270
And to glance with an eye, or show a bean in its pod, confounds the learning of all times,
And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero,
And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheel’d universe,
And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.
[48.1]
And I say to mankind, Be not curious about God, 1275
For I, who am curious about each, am not curious about God;
(No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God, and about death.)
[48.2]
I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least,
Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.
[48.3]
Why should I wish to see God better than this day? 1280
I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then;
In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass;
I find letters from God dropt in the street—and every one is sign’d by God’s name,
And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe’er I go,
Others will punctually come forever and ever. 1285
[48.4]
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